NBA: Nikola Jokic misplaces Finals MVP trophy after Nuggets’ championship clincher

June 16, 2023 Times Europe

Jun 12, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver presents the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) as Jokic holds his daughter Ognjena Jokic after the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Championship against the Miami Heat at Ball Arena. –Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

MANILA, Philippines—They don’t call Nikola Jokic the “Joker” for nothing.

Throughout the NBA Finals, Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has made viewers laugh with his nonchalant remarks during post-game interviews.

That didn’t stop even until after he delivered Denver’s first championship.

On Thursday before the Nuggets’ championship parade, Jokic said he had lost his Bill Russell Finals MVP award, admitting he misplaced it amid the post-championship celebrations.

He told ESPN’s Malika Andrews, who mentioned that Jokic was the first Finals MVP to come to the interview without the trophy, that he didn’t know where he left his newly-earned hardware.

Rest assured, the Nuggets’ longtime equipment guru Sparky Gonzales has the trophy cleaned and detailed and it’s ready for Thursday’s parade.

— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 15, 2023

“I really don’t know. I left it in Sparky [Gonzales]‘s room and it’s not there anymore so I don’t know,” said Jokic coolly and almost without concern… as usual.

Thankfully for the Serbian superstar, the trophy was found before the Nuggets paraded across their hometown to celebrate the end of a 47-year wait for the NBA championship.

In a report released by Sports Illustrated, it was said that the NBA Finals hardware trophy was back in the “hands of its rightful owner.”

Jokic earned the Bill Russell Finals MVP trophy after averaging 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists in five games to help the Nuggets take their first-ever NBA title.